rodshaw Posted August 5, 2020 Share Posted August 5, 2020 Having been absorbed with American TT for the last three years or so, I've been eyeing what's left of my HO scale stock and itching to get it moving again. So to get it up and running, I've made a quick switching plank. Fortuitously I had some spare balsa left over from a previous layout. Balsa is ideal - nice and light but pretty much flat as a pancake and fairly robust. What I had left has made a baseboard just 8 inches wide, in two sections 32in. and 24in. long, joined by a couple of dowels. So total length is 56in, and if you take in the fact that there's no extra fiddle yard, overall it's my shortest yet. The design is nothing special, but it allows for a good bit of switching. I've nominated the track inside the red oblong as a potential fiddle yard. The lead track at front left is also 24in, which will accommodate a loco up to around GP40 length plus two 50ft freight cars, for switching the track at front right. The extra 8in. in between the two 24in. sections is taken up by the pair of turnouts. If I decide to turn it into a proper layout there is room for low-relief industries at back left and at the right in front of the fiddle yard. All in all, just enough for a bit of switching to get those HO trains running again. I'm thinking it may also have a bit of play value for my grandkids. If I decide to give it the full scenic treatment I may add a couple of inches of width to the front, possibly at a lower level, to make a harbour scene, hence the cunning code name. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted August 5, 2020 Share Posted August 5, 2020 Looks like you're off to a great start. I'm not sure what your scenic plan is, but could I recommend leaving the fiddle yard track visible rather than hidden? Maybe scenic it up as an interchange siding or something? On a small layout, real estate is on a premium, so I've always found that when I take one to an exhibition, people lean over the backscene to check out the fiddle yard anyway, so why hide it? Obviously this is just my suggestions, it's your layout and rule number 1 always applies. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium skipepsi Posted August 5, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 5, 2020 2 hours ago, DanielB said: Looks like you're off to a great start. I'm not sure what your scenic plan is, but could I recommend leaving the fiddle yard track visible rather than hidden? Maybe scenic it up as an interchange siding or something? On a small layout, real estate is on a premium, so I've always found that when I take one to an exhibition, people lean over the backscene to check out the fiddle yard anyway, so why hide it? Obviously this is just my suggestions, it's your layout and rule number 1 always applies. Guilty of peering behind Daniels backscene... How thick is the balsa base board please? Could you attach a cassette type fiddle stick? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodshaw Posted August 5, 2020 Author Share Posted August 5, 2020 (edited) DanielB - good idea, I may well end up scenicking the fiddle yard. It gives me more options that end. This might be an advantage at a show anyway, changing trains gives people something to watch while nothing is running. Mick - the balsa is 3/4in. or 19mm thick, apart from a short middle section which is about 1/2in. with some foamboard glued underneath. I got it from Balsa Cabin about 16 years ago. I sandwiched it all with thick card from a packing box, then painted and varnished it. It's standing on glued-on balsa feet. Frankly it's a bit of a bodge and looks ghastly, but it's robust enough for what I need and the trains run fine. I could attach a fiddlestick for shows - I even have just enough balsa left - but at home I've run out of space! Anyway my TT layout is booked for shows during 2021 so the earliest I'll be exhibiting this (if I end up finishing it to a good enough standard) will likely be 2022, so plenty time to make one! But boy does that HO look big compared to TT! Edited August 5, 2020 by rodshaw Afterthought Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted August 5, 2020 Share Posted August 5, 2020 If you think HO is big, try O scale! If you're thinking of taking it to shows, as well as doing a scenic fiddle yard, might I suggest turning the baseboard 180 degrees and having that nice long spur as the fiddle track? It'll be much easier to "fiddle" with cars that way! Unless your intention is to operate from the front, in which case you would not need to rotate the board! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodshaw Posted August 6, 2020 Author Share Posted August 6, 2020 The spur you mention is no longer than the fiddle yard, they are both 24in. The fiddle yard maybe looks shorter because of the turnout in the middle, which admittedly makes it a bit more inconvenient for placing stock. And switching from the other spur would be impossible. There would be no way to get a train from it onto the tracks above it. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted August 6, 2020 Share Posted August 6, 2020 Two locomotives 'in steam' could work. One for your 'Class 1' taking the cars from the exchange sidings into the headshunt, then a 'Class 3' shortline loco comes and collects them for switching, freeing up the class 1 to leave? It could work, though it might be a bit messy. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodshaw Posted August 7, 2020 Author Share Posted August 7, 2020 The loco can either push two cars onto sidings S1 or S3 via fiddle yard track F1, or pull two cars onto the lead track via fiddle yard track F2 and then push them onto siding S2. My original idea was to have the fiddle yard as a one-track 'sector plate' pivoting between the two sets of sidings, but I got lazy and used the turnout instead. I may go back to the idea of a sector plate, or possibly a two-track fiddle yard, if the present design proves restrictive. I suppose I could also install a crossover between siding S3 and the lead track, which would give me a run-round loop for the loco. Two locos would be a bit of a luxury on a layout like this but they'd work, one pulling and one pushing from the fiddle yard. It's DCC so this would be no problem. I'm still finding it odd adjusting back to these HO monsters after my immersion in TT - but my grandson says he prefers the bigger trains and luckily I have just enough room to have both layouts set up together and switch back and forth! 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielB Posted August 7, 2020 Share Posted August 7, 2020 Do you have space for a bolt on 'fiddle stick'? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodshaw Posted August 17, 2020 Author Share Posted August 17, 2020 Having a bit of a play...I think it could be a goer. No scenics as yet, but I'm inclined towards covering a fair bit of the track with paving. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 Interesting to see the contrast between HO & TT - I'd have thought it wouldn't be so noticeable, as the difference in scale is only 0.5mm. I'm with Dan though - try O Scale & it'll all look tiny!!! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 On 06/08/2020 at 14:26, DanielB said: Two locomotives 'in steam' could work. One for your 'Class 1' taking the cars from the exchange sidings into the headshunt, then a 'Class 3' shortline loco comes and collects them for switching, freeing up the class 1 to leave? It could work, though it might be a bit messy. That's been my "modus operandi" for a while now. Works a treat with freight cars getting a rapid turnround on & off the layout, rather than industry spots, where in reality they could be parked up for days on end. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Regularity Posted August 18, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 18, 2020 Jordan, Only in the UK is TT 3mm:1foot, or roughly 1:100. Generally, it’s 1:120 scale... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 1 hour ago, Regularity said: Jordan, Only in the UK is TT 3mm:1foot, or roughly 1:100. Generally, it’s 1:120 scale... So what's that; about 2.8mm:1foot..? Anyway, still a bigger size contrast than I was expecting. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodshaw Posted August 18, 2020 Author Share Posted August 18, 2020 (edited) American TT is about 2.5mm to the foot, or 1:120, the same as European TT, and HO is 1:87. So American TT is only 72.5% the length of HO, or only just over 50% the area, or 38% the volume. I love it. British TT is actually closer to HO than it is to American or European TT. Having said which, the difference in size is greatly exaggerated in my photo because the HO is in the foreground and the lens was pretty much at its widest angle. Edited August 18, 2020 by rodshaw Addition Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Regularity Posted August 18, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 18, 2020 1 hour ago, F-UnitMad said: So what's that; about 2.8mm:1foot..? 48 minutes ago, rodshaw said: American TT is about 2.5mm to the foot What he said. Or as Americans say, “Do the math.” (300/120 = 2.5. 300mm is near enough to a foot for these approximate purposes.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodshaw Posted August 19, 2020 Author Share Posted August 19, 2020 This gives you a better idea of relative size. 2 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodshaw Posted November 20, 2020 Author Share Posted November 20, 2020 Having sold off another batch of HO stock I'm now left with two Bachmann Sound Value Alcos, nine post roofwalk era boxcars, a tanker, a gondola and a flat car. Just enough for some interesting switching. The sales will easily pay for any spending I do on this layout - all I should need are some modelling card, some figures and maybe a smoke unit for a chimney. I have some downloaded low relief factories and industrial units to make, and enough room on the layout for two industries (working names Ahab Marine Supplies and Salts Seafood Co.) plus maybe a team track...must stop playing trains and get on with it! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodshaw Posted March 16, 2021 Author Share Posted March 16, 2021 A small start with scenics for this new layout in the form of the 1930s factory from modelrailwayscenery.com, repurposed with an added more modern Walthers door. Sides and roof still to do. I like the way this kit goes together. It was supplied as OO scale, which I could have got away with but I reduced it to 87% for HO. I think it will look nice against the backscene on top of a loading ramp. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodshaw Posted May 11, 2021 Author Share Posted May 11, 2021 A bit more progress, with the Scalescenes low relief warehouse freebie and some ground cover, again using Scalescenes products and Wills cobble sheets which I've had for some time so I thought I might as well use them. The idea is that there will be a harbour wall all along the front of the layout, with a length of 'sea' a couple of inches or so deep , hopefully with room for a couple of small boats. Mostly I haven't been a fan of printed card kits because of the basic 2D appearance but they are easy and pleasant to build and I must say they look better than I thought. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodshaw Posted May 21, 2021 Author Share Posted May 21, 2021 I've run out of materials for a backscene and don't feel like buying any more just now so for now I'm going to do without one. To make the low relief factory stand up, I made a sort of slotting system. For the warehouse interior rear walls, which aren't part of the Scalescenes kit, I found an online photo that was a pretty good match and adapted it. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodshaw Posted May 27, 2021 Author Share Posted May 27, 2021 The Alco S-4 shoves a boxcar into the siding... to pick up a hi-cube from Ahab Engineering. Later, an RS-3 picks up an empty gondola... and takes it to the interchange sidings. (Must straighten that wall). Sme views of the whole layout so far, showing the matchstick rail bumpers and the walls screening the fiddle yard. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodshaw Posted May 29, 2021 Author Share Posted May 29, 2021 Bearing in mind my intention to build a harbour or wharf scene, with the front of the layout as a harbour wall and an extra two or three inches in front to model water at a lower level, I'm going to need some appropriate HO scale detailing items, e,g, lobster pots, rope, fishing nets etc., and maybe a boat component or two. Can anyone suggest a source, preferably in the UK? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
long island jack Posted May 29, 2021 Share Posted May 29, 2021 there maybe something here https://anyscalemodels.com/shop/railways/boats.html 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
298 Posted May 29, 2021 Share Posted May 29, 2021 (edited) https://www.harburnhobbies.co.uk/acatalog/info-2069.html#SID=146 https://www.harburnhobbies.co.uk/acatalog/QS418-Corner-Creation--Harbour-detail-2514.html#SID=146 https://www.harburnhobbies.co.uk/acatalog/info_174.html#SID=146 https://modelmasters.co.uk/collections/kibri/products/kibri_39161_shrimp_boat_cux_16 https://www.modelscenerysupplies.co.uk/brands/springside-models/seagulls-and-herons-oo-4mm Rope=thick thread, likewise for chain I've blackened and rusted the usual commercially available stuff. For the dock walls I used stained lolly sticks and wooden dowel. Edited May 29, 2021 by 298 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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